There are certain genres of movies that seemingly manage to get hot from time to time. For example, a movie studio would have to attempt to fail to put together a half-decent superhero movie that was not a hit in theaters as of the summer of 2015. We are just about on the verge of the third Spider-Man reboot in the past decade and a half. Regardless of how you feel about Spidey or the latest actor who will be playing that role, nobody can deny that there are good reasons for why we continue to see these franchises developed each decade. They draw fans to theaters, even if the movies themselves are more missable than they are instant classics.

At the other end of the movie spectrum are the genres of films that continue to be hits no matter what is going on in popular society and in the world, in general. Zombie movies are right atop that certain list of films. For whatever reasons, movie goers just cannot get enough of the idea of the undead rising up and overtaking society before a gang of misfits join together to fight their enemies. Maybe, just maybe, viewers are looking for inspiration on how they should react when the so-called “zombie apocalypse” hits the real world; you know, if you believe in that sort of thing.

Perhaps the best part about zombie movies is that they often manage to conjure up a variety of emotions. They are obviously meant to strike viewers with fear via what have, over the years, become memorable scenes. In some cases, different points of zombie movies are, intentionally or not, downright hilarious. The best zombie movies ever made are not movies that are only intended for Halloween season or for when you want to enjoy being spooked along with friends. They are, in their own ways, classic films that should live on for generations after they were first introduced to awaiting audiences.

3 Night of the Living Dead (1968)

2 Shaun of the Dead (2004)

1 Dawn of the Dead (1978)

If Night of the Living Dead is the grandfather of future zombie movies, Dawn of the Dead is its more powerful and domineering dad. “When there's no room in hell, the dead will walk the earth” was a tagline associated with the movie upon its release, and it proved to be a spot-on advertisement. It is, in the movie, too late to save the bulk of humanity before those remaining understand what is happening, and Dawn of the Dead also brought with it a couple of different endings that allowed viewers to determine their own answer to the following: Was humanity doomed?